


verus potentiale

by ineedhelpwithmylifern



Series: Ninjago Discord Fire vs. Ice Writing Tournament 2019 [4]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: POV Second Person, True Potential, Zane's True Potential
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-09-27 11:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20407072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedhelpwithmylifern/pseuds/ineedhelpwithmylifern
Summary: "You have potential."Wu had first found you and told you had potential. You didn't remember anything at all, you were lost and scared. And he took you in.(A fic set in Zane's POV, with events leading up to and the event of Zane's true potential.)





	verus potentiale

**Author's Note:**

> The final prompt for the writing contest! It was True Potential and god I had fun with this one!!!
> 
> @ The other two contestants, if you're reading this, Good Luck!!!
> 
> Also the title is just true potential in Latin

"You have potential."

Wu had first found you and told you had potential. You didn't remember anything at all, you were lost and scared. And he took you in.

He introduced you to two people who would soon become your friends. Jay and Cole were their names. You trained to become a ninja with them, and they cared for you.

You didn't quite understand everything yet.

When Kai joined you to train, it was odd having a fourth member. But he was now there, and he was a part of the team.

You all went out and got the golden weapons, saved Kai's sister, and kinda defeated Garmadon. He escaped, but hey, he wasn't going to disturb Ninjago for a long while now? Right?

You still trained to be a ninja, but now Kai was with you, and Nya watched from the side with Wu. You knew she was unhappy but you said nothing about it. No one else was, so why would you?

But the four of you were a team and you would go on missions together, golden weapons in hand, and save Ninjago from whatever threat was facing it this time. That's what Wu told you. You needed to be ready when Garmadon attacked, for when he came back.

After all, you had potential.

* * *

A call with a Garmadon lead began the whole mess of the Green Ninja and true potential. Everyone on the team, including you, wanted to be the fated one to defeat the Dark Lord, the one to save Ninjago. When you all started to fight over it, you began to wish that you didn't translate the scroll, didn't tell them about the legend and start these fights. You blamed yourself at first.

And that is what happened, attempting to become that Green Ninja that you possibly weren't even (and turned out not to be) above all else. Above your team, above your friends, above relationships. You were willing to sacrifice that. 

Looking back on that, it was such a bad idea.

When the falcon first appeared, you had felt a connection to it. Something about it was way too familiar to ignore. Plus, it danced. What kind of bird danced like that to _you_ of all people? You followed it to the Young Lloyd's hideout. The rest of the team later teased you for following it, but you knew it was a good idea.

You had that feeling.

* * *

The second time you see the bird, you forget about the team for a minute as you run after it. It had to be leading you to something important. You knew they were following behind steadily, but they became weary and had to stop and rest.

The adrenaline- was that it?- was keeping you going. You needed to know what the bird was leading you to.

_You needed to know._

The falcon brought you into a birch forest, full of trees and went as far as the eye can see. You kept on going through the shallow layer of snow across the forest floor, unknowing of what you would find.

Kai was the last one to stop and rest. You left him at the sign that instilled a shred of fear inside you. _Beware of Treehorns_ it read, something that you did not know existed and would not like to ever see.

The falcon continued and you had to follow. You needed to know.

You needed to know.

You needed to know.

_You needed to know._

You kept running, kept going, kept following the falcon. _Why weren't you tiring out?_

Upon the moment the falcon fell from the sky, you knew something was off. A stamp of some kind was on the back of its head, a symbol. When you learned that it was a robot, the first thought that came to your mind was 'fix him,' but then you wondered who would be using this bird, who was controlling it and in turn the Ninja? There could be someone trying to lure them away from something important-

A laser barely missed you.

Some robot had begun to shoot at you, telling you that you were an intruder. The back of your mind nagged you that you were, but there was a sense of familiarity to the place that you just couldn't throw away. Maybe this had a connection to where you were from, all that time you had forgotten. Up until Wu had found you, you wandered. You were a wanderer. Someone without significance.

But Wu said you had potential. And you believed him.

But before you could get lost in your thoughts, you needed to get rid of the Juggernaut, so you could at least make it out of here alive. You made sure the falcon was out of the way before you easily used spinjitzu and the golden weapons to take the robot down. 

Upon seeing the symbol embedded on the robot, the same symbol as on the falcon, you stopped a moment to think. The robot was down and you needed to figure out why the falcon brought you here.

You picked up the bird and examined the symbol. It _had _to be a clue. So, you began your short trek around the clearing.

A tree that seemed to be larger than every other around you caught your attention. When you rapped a hand against it, it did not make the sound a tree was supposed to make. It sounded metal and hollow. This wasn't a tree.

You walked around it, feeling the chill of the metal tree through your gloves. You gasped when you noticed the symbol that was on the falcon and Juggernaut. You smiled, pressing down on it.

A hissing sound accompanied its opening, and the tree revealed an entrance through a doorway.

You stepped down each stair slowly, unknowing of how well they would hold up as the place looked of misuse. Upon reaching the bottom, you beelined for the workbench, which had a blueprint on it.

It was the falcon's.

Using it, you fixed your friend and watched it flutter up to the stairs. You asked why it brought you here, but it remained silent.

You shrugged and looked around, maybe he would see something that-

A blueprint. It was sticking out just a bit from under the workbench, calling you.

And, of course, you grabbed it.

Your scream of surprise, of anguish, of discovery, echoed through the bunker, the tree. 

You laid on the ground, crushed.

* * *

Your team, your friends eventually found you in there, nervous that you weren't okay.

And you weren't.

You were defeated, hurting. A robot all this time and you knew nothing of it. You showed them who you were, what you were. They accepted you.

You had the symbol within your chest. Whoever was here, whoever made the falcon and the robot, made you.

They were excited, they didn't understand but they cared.

You shooed them away. You needed time to yourself.

That may have been a bad idea.

* * *

A memory switch revealed repress memories of someone. Your creator?

Your father?

Memories of before, of him teaching you about the world.

And then him dying. Why? Old age? A sickness?

You didn't know. 

But he had flipped that switch to make you forget him.

Why?

To keep you safe, you presumed.

Yeah.

He loved you.

* * *

Once you were were awake from the memories, the falcon landed on your arm. You needed to catch up to your friends. You wiped a tear away from your eye. You knew who you were.

With a smile, you sped up the stairs, calling for your friends. You were okay. You called to them, wanting them to wait up.

Upon noticing what was happening, your heart- did you even have a heart? something close to that?- stopped. Your friends- Monsters, tall, patterned like the tress, they would have blended into the forest perfectly if not for the fact that they were moving around. _The Treehorns._ You needed to help, and they were in trouble. You went on autopilot, attacking the monsters, trying every bit to help your friends.

The team had begun to help, making the Treehorns begin to back off. It was working, and soon you would be able to get out without dying.

"Who's that?" Jay's cry cut through the sounds of fighting as your eyes and the eyes of your team were attracted to something new.

The biggest one of them all. "The queen," You whispered, a chill beginning to wash over your body. "You will not hurt my friends. There is nothing that will ever hold me back." You felt yourself rise, knowing that a new power was inside you. From the place where your heart would be, something surged, strong and new and welcomed. "I know who _I _am." 

Everything around you blurred as you lifted one hand, then the other, focusing a blast of ice at the monster, the queen. You needed to protect your friends. It froze over completely as you fell to the ground. "What happened?"

The team was excited, they told you it was awesome what you did, that you should have seen yourself, that they had never seen anything like it. As you stood there, you thought a bit. With a small smile, you looked at your hands, breathless, amazed. "This must be what Sensei meant by unlocking our hearts." You felt a grin overtake your face. "I remember now. I remember everything. I remember my father and how he cared for me. I remember where I came from. And I feel stronger for knowing."

"We have our own Nindroid!" Cole laughed, pumping his fist in the air, and they all started cheering.

This was your family.

And you wouldn't let them be left behind.

After all, they had potential.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudos!!!! And if you wish, leave a comment!!


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